Kamala Harris Husband, Douglas Emhoff, Is Her Number One Fan

As the presidential election continues to heat up, voters are getting more opportunities to get to know the group of men and women hoping to occupy the White House come November 2020. And while rapid-fire presidential debates and proposed policies are obviously a key way of identifying which candidate to align oneself with, many Americans are also as interested in getting to know the presidential hopefuls beyond just their personal politics. Are they good people? Do they have families and friends that love and respect them? Have they ever been investigated by the FBI? Are they facing a pending impeachment inquiry? These are all pretty important things to know before entering the booth and changing the trajectory of American and international politics for better or for worse.

From what we've seen so far, most of the current candidates have far less murky personal and professional lives than that of the incumbent currently seated in the Oval Office, and that should give us some hope! One such candidate is Senator Kamala Harris, the former attorney general of California who's been making both political and pop culture headlines as of late for her controversial career and for her love of all things Too $hort (perfectly reasonable, given that she's from Oakland). Less publicized is Harris' personal life, which includes the wonderful family that she has with husband Douglas Emhoff. Here's everything we know about this potential future First Gentleman of the United States.

Douglas is the proud father of two children.

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A post shared by Douglas Emhoff (@douglasemhoff) on May 19, 2019 at 7:11pm PDT

Years before meeting Harris, Emhoff was married to a woman named Kerstin, and they had two children together: Cole (after jazz saxophonist John Coltrane) and Ella (after Ella Fitzgerald, of course). When Emhoff and Harris hit it off, the future attorney general was initially very wary of the idea of meeting his kids because she knew just how important they were to him. "As a child of divorce, I knew how hard it could be when your parents start to date other people," she told ELLE in May. "And I was determined not to insert myself in their lives until Doug and I had established we were in this for the long haul. Children need consistency; I didn’t want to insert myself into their lives as a temporary fixture because I didn’t want to disappoint them. There’s nothing worse than disappointing a child."

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Blind dates tend to get a bad reputation, but when they work, they really work—just ask Emhoff! He was first introduced to his wife by way of a blind date set up by the then-strangers' mutual friend, a PR consultant named Chrisette Hudlin. Emhoff was immediately smitten with Harris, and the feeling was mutual; the two later got hitched in a 2014 romantic courthouse ceremony presided by Harris' younger sister Maya, complete with the musical stylings of a cellist in the courtroom.

Douglas is an entertainment lawyer.

At the The Hollywood Reporter Power Lawyers Breakfast 2019.

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Even as a child, Emhoff knew that he wanted to be a lawyer, but it wasn't until the late nineties that he would venture into the world of entertainment law. He secured a job with boutique firm Belin Rawlings & Badal before opening his own Beverly Hills firm. Today, Emhoff works as a litigator and partner at DLA Piper Law Firm. Law makes him happy and keeps him busy, his successful career as a lawyer just another element of Emhoff's full life. "With all this other stuff that's happening in my life right now, it's great to have [my practice,] because it's something that I love and I'm good at," Emhoff said to The Hollywood Reporter.

Douglas has a real connection with the other members of the "Spouses of Presidential Candidates Club."

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The game of politics can be especially nasty, complete with mudslinging and rumors in an attempt to tear down the competition. Personally, Emhoff prefers to keep things kosher on his end and is often hanging out with the spouses of Harris' competition; he chats family and politics with Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Mayor Pete, and takes debate week selfies with Elizabeth Warren and her husband Bruce Mann!

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Douglas is somewhat of a celebrity himself.

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Many people's first introduction to Emhoff was earlier this summer. Back in June, Harris attended the MoveOn's Big Ideas Forum in San Francisco. During her conversation with moderator Karine Jean-Pierre, a protestor from animal rights organization Direct Action Everywhere jumped onstage and grabbed the mic from Harris, startling the senator and the entire audience. Fortunately, Emhoff and a few other men sprung into action almost as quickly and escorted the protestor offstage before he could do further damage.

Emhoff's valiant actions to protect his wife drew praise and, for lack of a better word, stanning all across the internet, with fans of Emhoff even calling themselves part of "Doug Hive." So yeah—he's kind of a big deal.

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Ineye KomoniboIneye (in-NAY-yay) Komonibo is the editorial fellow at MarieClaire.com.

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